


Head Over Heels

by BambiLee



Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And I had to include Seokyu because I love him so much, Fluff, It's mainly Eunki and JungJung, Jisung and the other Yuehua Boys are briefly mentioned, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 01:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11025939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BambiLee/pseuds/BambiLee
Summary: Hong Eunki and Zhu Zhengting entered Produce 101 in the hope of finding success, and they did not expect to leave with a soulmate.(Also known as, when a survival competition is made a little more complicated by the tattoos on everyone's wrist that indicate the first words they ever hear from their soulmate)





	Head Over Heels

**Author's Note:**

> I already miss Eunki and JungJung, and the fact that they updated their Instagram accounts with selfies taken with the exact same giant teddy bear, I couldn't help it :')
> 
> (Also, I had to include my ultimate bias Seokyu so, he's here too. I know he can speak Chinese so I made it work xD)

Running his hand through his hair, JungJung nervously murmured his lines under his breath as he tried to run through their song without being obvious enough to scare the other Yuehua members. They already seemed anxious; even Justin, someone who usually effortlessly pulled off a cute or cool image, was jumping up and down on his spot whilst trying to calm down. It was only a few moments now until they would be called and they would have to face however many trainees were already waiting for them on the pyramid. 

JungJung was more nervous than most: he used a hand to cover the tattoo on the inside curve of his wrist that clearly said the phrase “your audition was really good!”

He had grown up dancing, always wondering what the Hangul on his wrist had meant. Everyone around him had been born with the usual tattoo in their native language, gradually meeting their soulmate in school or in college or even just someone they bumped into in the street. JungJung, on the other hand, had agreed to audition and move to Yuehua not only because of his dream of debut, but because of his dream of hoping to be somewhere he could meet his soulmate. He had learnt enough Korean to work out the meaning of the tattoo he had grown up with, and then he had waited after his audition to see if anyone congratulated him. They did, but not in the words that he needed.

It had confused him. As long as he stayed in Yuehua, he couldn’t see any auditions in the future that anyone might have considered talking to him about. But then, his company had explained the premise of this show, of the 101 trainee boys who would slowly become eleven and it all began with one performance: an audition.

He didn’t want to meet his soulmate here; he was nervous enough already.

 

Hong Eunki had been sat in his uncomfortable chair for most of the day. The chair he had originally sat on, one all the way at the top, had been much more comfortable with a much better view but he didn’t have the courage to stay there once someone challenged him. If he was too overconfident, it could easily be his downfall. He had no one else to hide behind or anyone to comfort him. He was the lone trainee from GON Entertainment, with no one to recognise him and a tattoo on his wrist that clearly read “that was amazing”.

He didn’t like his tattoo. How vague, how unhelpful, was a phrase like that? Eunki couldn’t envision any situation where someone would say “that was amazing” before even “hello” or “do you want to do something?”. He covered it up as much as possible, hiding it under long sleeves as he leant back in his chair and tried to focus on the first audition that was happening. It was brightly coloured, cheerful and cute and just enough energy to capture the attention of an already-tired collection of trainee boys. Eunki had kept his eye on the oldest boy as soon as the performance had begun with his dramatic flip. The label on his chest said that his name was JungJung, and Eunki couldn’t help but look at him as if he was direct competition. They were both dancers, both good in modern and contemporary who would always be directly be compared. Still, Eunki had to admit that the bright performance had been good, worthy of much more than the C Rank JungJung had been given. 

 

JungJung had started the week enjoying the tune and choreography of their own song, with lyrics that asked – almost begged, even – for the watching audience to pick them because that was what everyone needed. Now, on the day of the re-evaluation, he hated it. He hated the difficult pronunciation of every word and the high tone of the song and the fact that they had only been given such a short time to learn it. The choreography was difficult, but not in the way JungJung had been used to. It wasn’t elegant or full of tumbling. It was just fast, with movements that didn’t seem to fit the beat and timing that seemed completely random. He had never performed it without a mistake, and when they added the fact that he had to memorise lyrics in a language he wasn’t used to, he knew that a promotion to a higher rank was impossible.

He sat at the side of the room having already filmed his evaluation, stumbling over the words and even over his own feet. It wasn’t the standard he was used to in himself; he tried not to show too much disappointment. Justin had rested his head on his shoulder, the younger boy attempting to comfort him even though he had managed to mess up even more. Even Euiwoong, the leader that they both looked up to, was completing his own re-evaluation with difficulty. There was no chance that anyone from Yuehua would be staying at C Rank by the time they were done.

JungJung had been right – he bit his lip as he was handed his envelope, tearing it open to confirm his fears and reveal that he had been demoted. He wasn’t in F Rank, something he was thankful for, but he would be swapping his yellow jumper for a green one. 

 

Eunki had tried not to feel bitter when he had seen the Yuehua boy make his way into the new practice room, a crestfallen look on his face and a page in his hand that indicates the letter ‘D’. He had nothing against him but now, with the debut stage looming and whatever challenge had been planned after to worry about, they would always be in direct competition. Eunki had found the choreography for their 'Pick Me' song fairly simple, but he was held back by his stamina and his weakness of singing live. He was fine in a group, but solo – Eunki could see why he hadn’t been promoted.

There were a handful of new boys from all different levels, having either fallen from higher ranks or managed to rise just that tiny bit from the great uniforms that everyone inwardly dreaded. They grew closer over the last few days they had to learn and finalise the stage, but Eunki stayed away from the orange-haired dancer. It wasn’t entirely on purpose; he had heard from the others that JungJung was Chinese, so it was no surprise that he spent most of his time with the rest of the rest of the Yuehua boys who were used to how he would speak and act.

“No one is going to see us,” laughed Jisung, a bright smile on his face as they waited on their very specific triangle where they would be standing for the 'Pick Me' stage. He may have only been D Rank when judged by the show's staff, but in terms of variety skill and comedic timing, Jisung had no competition. Eunki liked him; he needed entertainment through this tough training. “We’re hidden even more than F Rank!”

“We’ll have to try and peek through their legs,” answered Eunki, bending forward to see if he could catch sight of any cameras. Those dressed in grey uniforms were still waiting to the side to be given their positions. Minki had begun to cry. Eunki bit his lip; he didn’t like watching people cry. He had even liked Nu'Est. He was sure they weren’t coping as well as he was pretending to.

“They’ll focus on Daehwi anyway,” murmured another boy. His pink hair somehow complimented the blue of the school uniforms Eunki was already bored of. He'd been promoted from F Rank and Eunki had almost felt sorry for him; the trainers always focused on him when they were giving criticism. “Maybe it’s better if we hide here.”

“There's always the next challenge, we'll get noticed then,” smiled Eunki. “D Rank, fighting!”

JungJung was aware of how dry his mouth was, hands hidden by the long sleeves of his green jumper. They had trailed in one after another, in their rank, and stood waiting for the first challenge to be announced and for their reactions to be filmed. He wasn’t beside Justin or Euiwoong or anyone he really spoke to. Instead, he stood beside another boy he didn’t know. JungJung tried to read the name on the boy's chest, but the way he stood made it difficult. Eunki? That sounded about right. He was a dancer as well.

The boy who stood the other side, the curls of his pink hair hidden beneath a yellow hat, glanced at JungJung's pale complexion and nervous posture. “Are you okay?” he asked, choosing to speak in Mandarin in the hope JungJung would understand him better. It made JungJung jump; he hadn’t known the was anyone other than Justin who would be able to talk to him.

“Yeah,” he answered, lying through his teeth but smiling in a hope of trying to be convincing. “Thank you.”

The boy smiled. Eunki must have caught onto the nervous energy, turning to JungJung just as filming was about to begin and trying to say something that would comfort him.

“Your audition was really good!”

JungJung didn’t reply; he didn’t have chance before BoA began talking and the filming of the show continued as if nothing had happened. His wrist burnt, the tattoo on his wrist stinging as it began to dye itself red and watch the phrase even deeper into his skin. JungJung tried not to show that it was hurting, desperate not to be noticed on either the cameras or by Eunki beside him.

They were supposed to be soulmates.

JungJung covered the pain in his wrist with his other hand, forcing a smile and trying to watch as names began to be called and teams began to be formed. JungJung's name was called, not as a team member but as a leader, and suddenly he had to stand in front of ninety-eight pairs of eyes and stutter out names of people he wanted on his team. He could only think of one name: Eunki.

He couldn’t pick him.

Justin – he wanted someone who would understand him, at least. And Choi Minki, a Nu'Est member would help the group. Hwanwoong, Gunhee, Gwanghyun - all sorts of people who he hoped would create a well rounded team. They ended up with Replay. That was okay. They were a good team for that, talented with the cute image to carry off the sweet lyrics. JungJung couldn’t help but be confident. He never took his jumper off, wanting to hide his now-red tattoo.

 

Eunki had no idea why, with just a day until the performance of their first task, all of the trainees had been gathered together into one room for one final piece of irrelevant filming. They had already been put through a ghost challenge, a military style fitness regime, voting for every little thing to give MNet more pieces of footage to stitch together in whatever way benefitted their favourites. Eunki wasn’t oblivious – he knew how the show worked, and he could already tell that when episodes started airing that the majority of screen time would be given to Jihoon, to Daehwi, to Jisung, to people who worked on camera and fitted the exact standard that MNet wanted. Eunki knew he didn’t fit that standard; he had spent most of his life fitting to a standard that society didn’t want for him. 

He was nervous for the elimination, he couldn’t hide it from anyone.

This time, however, this filming could be different. Eunki's heart sang when he heard the voices of the two previous IOI members announce that this filming would be something he could excel in – a dance battle. 

For once, Eunki was certain he could get the screen time that he desperately needed. Even against those who had been favoured by MNet, those like Jihoon Eunki knew he could hold his own in any style of dance. This was why he had entered. He could do any of this.

When they started playing slower music, music Eunki was more used to, a smile spread across his face. He excelled at modern, contemporary, anything acrobatic where he could really let himself focus on just his graceful movements and the flexibility that he prides himself on. He could have filled the stage on his own.

He wasn’t on his own.

He caught a glance of orange hair; his competition. That was okay for now because although this was a competition, there was a connection between them based on the ties of the music alone. JungJung was as flexible as he was, as graceful, as light on his feet and perhaps just a little more daring with the tricks he was willing to pull off at a moment's notice. Eunki could hear the cheers of the people watching as he gestured for JungJung to take his hand. They could work together; dance was a universal language.

JungJung's lips nearly touched his own; Eunki felt cheated when the boy pulled away.

This wasn’t a competition anymore. This was something else. The way the music ended, Eunki and JungJung's bodies pushed together, breathlessly, before breaking apart and smiling at each other. Their hands brushed against each other.

“That was amazing,” murmured JungJung in his broken Korean, before turning and running back to his seat between the rest of Yuehua. Eunki's wrist began to burn.

 

Waiting nervously for the eliminated to begin, JungJung could see Eunki sitting by himself a few rows ahead. They had both spoken to each other now. Did Eunki's wrist burn as much as his did? The soulmate marks were known to burn until you finally spent time with each other, just to make it so you couldn’t ignore them. JungJung had managed to hide his own pain by blaming it on exhaustion from training. Justin had noticed in the dorm, placing his head on JungJung's shoulder and asking who it was in quiet Mandarin. JungJung had seen no point in lying. When he had said Eunki's name, Justin had smiled. “You suit him,” he murmured, absent-mindedly tracing his own tattoo. It was written in the same elegant font as his, “I can’t believe I found you” adorning the young boy's wrist in raven black ink.

Did Eunki feel the same pain as JungJung? He watched as Eunki pressed on his own right wrist with his hand, scratching and rubbing the skin. JungJung sighed in relief; even if they had managed to avoid each other for this time, he wasn't suffering through it alone. There was nothing broken about their connection. It was just complicated.

It didn't matter now, anyway. Among the five Yuehua boys who could barely keep their eyes fixed ahead at cameras as the trainees who had passed were announced, they all held hands. JungJung could feel the nerves trembling through Justin's hand.

JungJung was the first of their company called. Fiftieth. That was okay.

He was excited enough to have survived at first, his happiness briefly overshadowing the pain in his wrist. From his seat on the pyramid, he could clearly look out over the boys who were left waiting for their own name to be called. Briefly, Eunki looked up and met JungJung's gaze. It was a connection for just a moment, before Eunki looked away back to the floor. He was called at thirty-sixth, before any other Yuehua boy that JungJung had been trying to reassure from his vantage point. That was okay as well. If his soulmate survived further into the show, perhaps they could stop the burning in his wrist long enough for JungJung to finally put his full attention back on what he was supposed to be focusing on.

 

Eunki held back cautiously, watching trainees who had both survived and been eliminated cry their way through a goodbye. Even though the cameras had been turned off, the display of emotion was enough to make Eunki begin to feel tears brimming at his own eyes again. No - he had cried enough already, saying goodbye to the few boys he had become close with that wouldn't be continuing further in the competition. He had never had a company friend to lose.

JungJung, however, had been holding Seunghyuk in an embrace since they had been allowed down from their chairs.

"I'm okay," reassured Seunghyuk, over and over again. Eunki could hear him even from where he stood, watching as every other Yuehua boy except the one who had been eliminated wiped away tears. "I knew this would happen. It's okay, honestly. Just promise me you'll work hard. I want you all to debut, yeah?"

MNet were intent on forcing the boys apart as soon as possible. Those who had been eliminated were told they had to leave; those who had cried but had to continue filming had to have their makeup re-done before going back to practice. At best, there would be a five minute break where Eunki could catch his breath. "JungJung," he called, as soon as the orange-haired boy walked past him. In case his call didn't work, Eunki also took hold of JungJung's wrist and pulled him to the side. He may have been too strong; JungJung stumbled. "I...um, sorry, I think."

"It's okay," reassured JungJung quietly, leaning against the wall where Eunki had also been leaning. "What do you want?"

Eunki stuttered. "I, um, I just wanted....you know, 'it's been amazing'."

JungJung smiled, understanding immediately. "'Your audition was really good'," he added, remember the compliment from so many days ago. "I always wondered why my tattoo was in Korean."

"On the count of three?"

JungJung nodded - they both counted down together, before pulling up their sleeves together and exposing the tattoos which had both turned a deep crimson colour. The burning stopped. "So we're soulmates," murmured Eunki, after a few moments of silence. "Why did it have to be here?"

JungJung didn't respond.

"I don't mean I don't like you," continued Eunki, panicked. "It's just...we need to be focusing on other things right now."

"I get it," answered JungJung, eventually. "I want to focus on the show. I...fiftieth, I need to work harder."

"After the show," confirmed Eunki. "When we get our phones, I'll give you my number and we can do something after the show. But for now..."

"We need to prove ourselves first."

Eunki found himself laughing. He edged closer to JungJung, not even noticing he was doing it. "We don't need to prove anything," he reassured. "We've already shown we can dance, right?"

"That really was amazing.

"I know."

Silence fell between then. The sound of producers shouting for the beginning of filming, only a few seconds left. "After the show," repeated Eunki. "We can do whatever we need to after the show. You've got this, yeah? It'll be the skill challenge next, we can both dance. It'll be fine. We might even end up debuting together. Fighting!"

 

Eunki hated the second elimination. It was the same as the first, except this time he watched from his chair on the floor as other people were pushed forward through to the next round and he had to fall behind. He had said goodbye to anyone who had meant anything to him in this show, except one - JungJung and Justin stayed together, comforting a Hyungseob and an Euiwoong who both looked guilty they had continued further into the show. Eunki hadn't felt like he wanted to break that up. He waited alone until he was told he could go home. He didn't exactly know what he would do back at his company, but he knew for sure that he would dance. He needed to.

"You look sad," murmured a familiar voice over his shoulder, JungJung taking a seat behind him. There was a tear trail running down his cheek. "You were close. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," answered Eunki. When JungJung put his hand on his shoulder, Eunki took it in his own. "We're better than MNet, right? We don't need them to debut."

JungJung laughed; Eunki had fallen in love with that sound. "Of course," answered the Chinese boy, a smile shining through his tears. "Justin and I...we'd already guessed we were being eliminated after last week. We said we'd go to Hongdae with Seunghyuk if we weren't filming anymore. Did you want to come?"

Eunki shook his head. He didn't want to be there, with three eliminated trainees who still had two more to cheer on. He may have had a soulmate bond with JungJung, but the bond of the Yuehua trainees seemed something special. "I just want to go home," murmured Eunki, tightening his grip on JungJung's hand. "I just want to dance, I think. Without anyone telling me how."

"Okay."

JungJung's voice was barely a whisper. Eunki loved hearing it. "Another time though," continued Eunki. He turned to look at his soulmate. "We have to meet up. You're the best thing to happen to me in this entire competition."

"I'm really glad I came, because I got to meet you."

 

"Look at that," called JungJung, pointing to a giant teddy bear in the corner of the shop that was almost as big as them. Eunki couldn't help but laugh; his soulmate had a childish streak when he wasn't under the pressure of a survival show, something that he loved. "It's really soft too. Come on!"

"Let me take your picture," tried Eunki, waving for JungJung to pose beside the bear as he took his phone out and snapped a picture. He couldn't describe it with any word other than 'cute', his soulmate resting his head on the bear.

"It's your turn now," argued JungJung, taking his own phone and pushing a reluctant Eunki gently towards the bear. Another picture was taken, as adorable as the first. "I want to post this. You look so good in it."

"You know we can't post anything until they air the elimination tomorrow," murmured Eunki, resting his head on his soulmate's shoulder to look at the picture. "You're already in enough trouble for being seen in Hongdae."

"I don't have to listen to them anymore."

Eunki laughed, taking JungJung's hand in his own as they left the shop onto the evening streets of Seoul outside. "You know," he added, keeping JungJung close to him. "I'm going to miss not seeing you every day. I watched you from the start. Your audition really was good."

JungJung smiled, squeezing Eunki's hand tightly.

"And any moment I spend with you really is amazing."


End file.
